Sunday 26 June 2016

Company trip to Lexis Hibiscus, Port Dickson

This post is about my last trip to Port Dickson. Happy Times Yayy~!

So in May, I was at Port Dickson because my company organized the annual dinner cum team building session in one of the most beautiful resort I've ever been. Not like there are many resorts I've been to LOL. But yes, it is such an amazing place I'm super impressed and surprised there is such a resort with cottages built on top of the water, arranged in the shape of Malaysia's national flower, the hibiscus and facing the Straits of Malacca. Yeah, the flower pattern part, super duper impressed. Even my friends agree with me LOL

This is the first pic I took of the resort. Check out the beautiful chalets!



OOTD shot in from of the lounge!




We were mostly occupied with activities that took up the entire day and I was in charged with  decorations for the entrance of the annual dinner so I didn't get to explore much on that day. Oh, and I didn't even noticed I was at Port Dickson until lunch! I was looking out the hotel's cafe and wondering why is there a beach WTF. Turns out I'm facing the sea yo! #blockheadme

This was what  my colleagues and I were working on~



And then the annual dinner is at night so only after that I decided to hung out with my newfound friend who helped me in the decorations. We were at the lounge chatting, drinking Apple Mojito and deciding where we should go for vacay. Initial plan was to Australia but finally decided we'll be going to Taiwan together sometime next month! YAYYYYYY!

Bff's equally fun sis will be joining me, I'm so happy we can do this together! So I'm quite occupied trying to get our itinerary done and book our AirBnB asap. My goodness, few weeks to go. #Kancheong #wakuwaku

Our Mojitos~ We both love the alcohol and virgin versions!



After that, we head back to our respective rooms. My room wasn't in the chalet above the water, sadly... But I got an amazing view of the hibiscus and actually appreciated it a lot. I jumped into the small dipping pool twice, before the event and at 1AM! I call it a dipping pool because it's barely one lap.... According to my newfound friend and bedmate (we shared a king size bed LOL),  Lexis has another resort with huge pools in every room! So awesome! Oh, and the place we were at is caled Lexis Hibiscus, true to its name.

Here are how the place looks like from my room. Photos taken by my newfound friend LOL. She has awesome photography skills her Instagram is beautiful!




The dipping pool LOL



Then the day version. Equally breathtaking! That's the end of the stalk there (far right).



Next morning I was up and couldn't wait to go cycling. Most of my friends have chosen to take the early trip back so I was alone. But it was the best decision ever! I cycled past the pretty chalets and rode my way to the end of the hibiscus stalk.

(I want to show u guys the photos of me cycling but I don't know where I kept it OMG. Please let them be in my HD!)

Then stopped to check the view, it was an amazing feeling!






Kept cycling past a family and one of the kid was like, "Selalu cuti ke? (Do you have hols often?)" and I was "Taklah, hari ni (Nope, just today <--Wanted to say, only this time)".

He went, "Eh, boleh cakap Melayu. (Eh, she speaks Malay)". Of course lah. *proud*

I just don't speak my mother tongue FML.

And that's pretty much what I did. I really really wanna go back there just so I have more time to enjoy the resort. Bedmate, now a super good friend shared with me the Groupon ads which listed the night for RM700, plus minus... Like that, who wants to teman me there lah, so pricey!

One day, someday, I hope...

Nevertheless, would super recommend the place, there is 2 king size bed (super comfy pillows!) to share with your friends and family, a dipping pool (unless you go to the other Lexis resort then you'll get your private pool), sauna, awesome view of the straits, and fun time cycling. In case you get bored there's the lounge and karaoke. Ostrich farm nearby too LOL.

(ps, Vivi-grammar : add mate to just any possible noun. Coined the word "toiletmate" six years ago, yo!)

My Maiden SK-II Journey

Hello~!

Today's post will be about SK-II!

SKII My Maiden Journey

I've been wanting to try this FOREVER for sake of getting smoother skin. Most people who use SK-II  seems to have baby smooth skin and I'm so envious! Even the promoter whom I chatted with have super dewy smooth skin! Asked how long she has been using SK-II, she replied 10 years *mouth drops* Hopefully I don't have to wait 10 years to get similar result LOL.

Same goes to my ex-housemates and everyone who uses SK-II, they have such pretty skin!

So walah, this is the trial set I bought~!

SKII Origami Trial Set

SKII Crystal Club

SKII

Didn't dare to spend on the large size bottles yet because I've came across both positive and negative reviews on consumers who used them so I can't be sure if it suits me.

I actually discussed this concern with my friends and one of them came up with an odd theory about SK-II _ that SK-II isn't suitable for those who already have flawless skin. Weird, huh. She took example of a Hong Kong or Taiwan actress who has troubled skin but her skin condition improved after using SK-II. And that her friends who have beautiful skin seems to be getting breakouts after using it.

It took me a few months after our discussion to actually try SK-II. For one, I was contemplating between another skin laser surgery or SK-II. I already had skin laser twice and while they do make my skin smoother, they didn't solve the problem like 100%.

So I went and got my skin checked and here is the results.

SK-II Skin Test

My rather pathetic SK-II skin test result

OMG my skin is 32-year-old. *Freaks out*

SK-II

I also scored miserably on firmness power. And all this time I was so proud of having supple and firm skin. Not sure betul (Malay for correct/true) or not.

2016-06-23-00-31-23_deco

Since I only started using this early this month, I haven't notice any huge difference (yet) and I did have breakouts around my chin/upper lips area but I wouldn't assume it is because of me using SK-II. I know I have crazy raging hormones LOL that have been giving me this issue!

So far I've used slightly over 2/3 of the toner and close to half bottle of the essence so I'm assuming the toner will last about 6 weeks and the essence about 2 months or more if you use it sparingly. Apparently I don't hahahaha.

Both the toner and essence has an organic-ish if not slight chemical-ish scent. Not too bad but I was sort of turn off when I first tried it. I mean, I didn't imagine it to be like that LOL. But it's not like some alcohol-based toner that takes a long time getting use to, I pretty much got used to it after a few times.

For the toner, I was advised to used a square cotton applicator as the toner works to remove dead skin cells and so wiping it off would be the most effective. I did as told and this is what on the cotton after wiping my entire face.

Pretty yucky eh. Though without a microscope I can't confirm they're dirt or dead skin cells LOL

Result from using SKII Toner

For the essence, I see no need of using a cotton applicator but the liquid evaporates of quite fast so unless you prefer to take your time applying and want to make sure you do so evenly, use the cotton applicator. I prefer the latter as well.

So like I said, I can't really feel much difference yet and to check if my next skin test result has improved and that the earlier results were no mere gimmick, I have decided to get a test again but in a different branch. Also, I'll see if my friends' notice any difference the next time I meet them because I'll be meeting a bunch of different set of friends I haven't seen in a while. Will update you gals on this in Part 2 together and another post for theSK-II mask~!

Sunday 19 June 2016

#BalikKampung Food Post

Yessie, as my title suggests, I went back to my hometown. I don't really do this often but many people kept suggesting I should go home more often and so happened my bff came home for a visit from Germany, I thought I should pay her a visit as well. While I did get a chance to meet her (and her sis and dad), eat good food, have proper rest, color my new coloring book and dragging mom into the bandwagon, my balik kampung trip was only a 3-day visit because I couldn't get a tix to go back a day later (which is today). Some of my old friends found out I was home but we didn't get to meet up for the same reason. So sad, I know (T____T) BFF got a 3-week off, I wish I can get that long of a holiday while working as well.

That aside, this will mostly be a food post, from Day 1 dinner. I was already home by noon and had lunch and tea time in Penang but totally forgotten to take pics... In case you're wondering I had chap fan and mixed vege pig's intestine soup for lunch and nasi lemak and apam balik for teatime.

Now photos time! Day 1 dinner at Ah Chong's Fisherman Restaurant. First time makan-ing (Malay for dining plus English continuous tense LOL) here.

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It's by the sea so the scenery's awesome!

Ah Chong's Fisherman Restaurant

Ah Chong's Fisherman Restaurant

Like most Chinese seafood restaurants, they have aquariums of life catches (and  bred?).

Ah Chong's Fisherman Restaurant

Satay and fried chicken~

Ah Chong's Fisherman Restaurant

Sambal kangkungAh Chong's Fisherman Restaurant

Steamed lala

Ah Chong's Fisherman Restaurant

Curry crab yum yum!

Ah Chong's Fisherman Restaurant

Food is alright but don't quite fancy the sambal kangkung/vege and lala too sour though mom loves the latter.

Then dad even went to buy durian, because ahem ahem, he adores me LOL #vainmax and I ate a lot of them during my 3-day there. So much that my durian craving is satisfied. Medium breed sort, not close to the creaminess of Musang King or Red/Blue Lobster or whatever durian with fancy names but good, medium softness and fat flesh. Makes you drool yet? Cuz I am. Though my fam and  I think they are pure extortion with 1kg costing over RM80. Hellooo durian extortionists, I get my fancy names durian from Aeon for RM40!

durian~

Day 2 breakie is good old days mihoon with sambal. A bit oily to my liking but #tasteofhome

mihun goreng

Lunch is chap fan and yummy lak thang soup (pig intestine cooked with tons of pepper soup), my favorite!





Then island trip again after lunchtime because I wanted to visit dear BFF. Parents wasn't so keen of me going there, I'm guessing its after a year of not driving my parents were not too trusting of my navigation skills.... #AsianParents #gotpeopledrivemeyayyy

I'm glad I did, miss chatting with these people! They're the kind of annoying (in a good way) friends ❤❤❤ Here are what we ordered from Manhattan Fish Market, just drinks tho~

Manhattan Fish Market

Manhattan Fish Market

Manhattan Fish Market

Then dinner at this duck rice place mom recommend! I super likey! So many makan place I haven't tried gosh.... I obviously haven't been home frequently the past years to try them out (>___<)

Duck rice!

This place is actually Penang version of food street or you can call it a night market style makan place so there are lotsa food stalls and other stalls selling kuih/desserts, buns, biscuits, soya milk and soya curd (Hokkien Tau Hua and Mandarin Tau Fu Far), and the list goes on. Tapau-ed (Hokkien for takeaway) some Ang Ku and Tau Hua and bought some Chinese biscuits for souvenirs to share among colleagues.







~❤~

And finally, day 3 lunchie~



Yum yum yum! Small clams (?), pickled vege, braised duck, fried pork, tofu and braised pig's intestine.



And cendol! Taste as good as Penang Road!



They installed a super huge fan in this foodcourt, pretty awesome.



Dinner is porridge again because we had super early dinner as I needed to catch the train after that. Super yummy despite the simplicity.

Braised chicken feet, braised pork, fried pork, okra with soy sauce, mushrooms (me think) and anchovies, dried shrimps in lime sauce dressing.



Close up. This is super appetizing!



And these are pretty much most of them.

Oh, I took ETS to and from my hometown! So convenient now that it only takes 5 hours to go home, previously was 10 hours. Aha. Exactly why I didn't fancy trips home.. Recommendable as it is much more convenient, more legs space, cleaner and actually less noise. Cafe size is much smaller too but at least you have a dining tray right in front of you.



Blueberry shortcake I got from KL Sentral. Pretty good actually.





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